One of the reasons I started blogin’ on this topic is because I am fascinated by it. Another is because I like to help others in the area of adapting to technology. I would be doing readers a dis-service if I expected them to continue to read this blog and offer no real advice or solutions.
In the area of "information overload" I am fairing rather well in terms of coping. I thought I might take a few minutes to draft a post on how I deal with one single aspect of it. Password management is a known area of information overload. If you wish to read more about this topic, I suggest this PsychCentral article. My intent with this post is to share how I deal with passwords and open the table for discussion on how you deal with them.
First of all, what makes a password good?
- It should not be easily guessed. Your birthday is not a good idea.
- It should not be a real word. Randomness is best.
- An ideal password should contain upper and lower case letter, numbers and special characters.
- You should not use the same password twice.
- For more sensitive material, bank accounts for example, you should periodically change your password.
I follow all of the above. I do not actually know most of my passwords. I use a program called KeePass. It is FREE and highly rated. (There is a more detailed review here.)